Cintiq 24HD

Works as well as you would expect, but pricey and heavy

A big investment for an amateur photographer, as the price of this item is the similar to that of a many a good lens. I didn't get the 'touch' model as I found I didn't much use the 'touch' capabilities of my Intuos Pro, so 'touch' is not referred to at all in this review.

Having been really delighted with Wacom Intuos tablets for several years, I was tempted to try one of these to further improve my editing capabilities. To start at the end - it does exactly what you would expect it to do, and does it well, although for the price I would have liked to have been blown away by it, and I can't say that I was.

From the top; the item comes fully assembled and very well packed indeed - the box is approx a metre cube, so beware! Due to the weighted base, the item is very heavy. The instructions advise that two people are needed to lift it, and although I did manage to do it myself, having a second person is definitely advised. In fact, the screen and base can be separated very simply by removing four screws, and this makes it easier for one person to lift and transport unaided.

In use, the screen resolution is adequate at 1920x1200 dpi but not as good as high-end monitors. The colour space at ~92% Adobe RGB is probably good enough for most amateurs, but would have been so much better if it was more. The 24" screen size is more than adequate, as obviously, you work very close to it.

The monitor is easy to set up, just took a few minutes. Note that you cannot daisy-chain monitors through an Apple Thunderbolt port, so it will not work if you connect this to the Thunderbolt outlet port of an Apple Thunderbolt monitor, it has to be directly connected to the Thunderbolt port on the Mac. You will need to buy separately an adapter from DVI (or Display Port) to mini-display port if you need to connect in that way. Other connections are power (large power brick supplied) and USB (long cable supplied). There is a USB port on the side of the monitor which is useful for connecting a calibration device.

There are no fewer than ten programmable buttons and two zoom/scroll wheels, all completely programmable to any keystrokes and combinations of keystrokes you could need in Lightroom or Photoshop, or any other application. Indeed you can have entirely separate key programming for each application you use. The application in use is automatically detected and the appropriate shortcuts made available. The on-screen radial menu adds a a number of other programmable one-click options.Given the number of key-board shortcuts in Photoshop, even more programmable buttons would be welcome. Slight niggle, the buttons are not lit at all and if, as many photo editors do, you work in a dimly lit room, it is very hard to find the button you need. There is no automatic touch activated on-screen display as you get with Intuos tablets, although there is a button on the top bezel that brings up a map of the keystrokes to which each button has been programmed. Not very convenient frankly, as you have to break your workflow to activate it. Also, each of the two scroll wheels can be programmed to three different actions which are selected by three buttons immediately adjacent to each scroll wheel. Curiously, these are each back-illuminated with a very bright white LED, but in a darkened room, it is very hard to distinguish which of the buttons is illuminated. Pressing any of them does bring up an on-screen display of the programmed functions for the block of three buttons. I can't help feeling that the buttons' implementation was designed by someone who doesn't use this device for photo-editing themselves!

In use, the pressure sensitive pen works extremely well - as you would expect from the premier graphics tablet manufacturer. The stand is tall enough and weighted enough so that you can position the monitor for you to comfortably work standing up, or with it hanging over the edge of the desk like a drawing board almost on your knees, and at a wide range of positions in between. I found the ergonomics of working standing up were perfect for me, and that's how I tend to use it. A Mac wireless key board sits perfectly on the top edge without obscuring much screen estate (due to the broad bezel) if you want to have a keyboard in easy reach. Another minor niggle is that there is some parallax error due to the image being behind the clear surface layer of the screen. It only appears to be about 1mm thick, but at some angles, the pen tip is noticeably not at the exact point you are seeing its effect. But it is very slight - I wouldn't over emphasize that point.

So, does it work as advertised? Undoubtedly. Do I use it? All the time. Would I buy it again? Probably not - I think the money would be better spent on upgrading your monitor and maybe a large Intuos tablet. Or a new lens for your camera.

Factsheet

Cintiq 24HD

Works as well as you would expect, but pricey and heavy

A big investment for an amateur photographer, as the price of this item is the similar to that of a many a good lens. I didn't get the 'touch' model as I found I didn't much use the 'touch' capabilities of my Intuos Pro, so 'touch' is not referred to at all in this review.

Having been really delighted with Wacom Intuos tablets for several years, I was tempted to try one of these to further improve my editing capabilities. To start at the end - it does exactly what you would expect it to do, and does it well, although for the price I would have liked to have been blown away by it, and I can't say that I was.

From the top; the item comes fully assembled and very well packed indeed - the box is approx a metre cube, so beware! Due to the weighted base, the item is very heavy. The instructions advise that two people are needed to lift it, and although I did manage to do it myself, having a second person is definitely advised. In fact, the screen and base can be separated very simply by removing four screws, and this makes it easier for one person to lift and transport unaided.

In use, the screen resolution is adequate at 1920x1200 dpi but not as good as high-end monitors. The colour space at ~92% Adobe RGB is probably good enough for most amateurs, but would have been so much better if it was more. The 24" screen size is more than adequate, as obviously, you work very close to it.

The monitor is easy to set up, just took a few minutes. Note that you cannot daisy-chain monitors through an Apple Thunderbolt port, so it will not work if you connect this to the Thunderbolt outlet port of an Apple Thunderbolt monitor, it has to be directly connected to the Thunderbolt port on the Mac. You will need to buy separately an adapter from DVI (or Display Port) to mini-display port if you need to connect in that way. Other connections are power (large power brick supplied) and USB (long cable supplied). There is a USB port on the side of the monitor which is useful for connecting a calibration device.

There are no fewer than ten programmable buttons and two zoom/scroll wheels, all completely programmable to any keystrokes and combinations of keystrokes you could need in Lightroom or Photoshop, or any other application. Indeed you can have entirely separate key programming for each application you use. The application in use is automatically detected and the appropriate shortcuts made available. The on-screen radial menu adds a a number of other programmable one-click options.Given the number of key-board shortcuts in Photoshop, even more programmable buttons would be welcome. Slight niggle, the buttons are not lit at all and if, as many photo editors do, you work in a dimly lit room, it is very hard to find the button you need. There is no automatic touch activated on-screen display as you get with Intuos tablets, although there is a button on the top bezel that brings up a map of the keystrokes to which each button has been programmed. Not very convenient frankly, as you have to break your workflow to activate it. Also, each of the two scroll wheels can be programmed to three different actions which are selected by three buttons immediately adjacent to each scroll wheel. Curiously, these are each back-illuminated with a very bright white LED, but in a darkened room, it is very hard to distinguish which of the buttons is illuminated. Pressing any of them does bring up an on-screen display of the programmed functions for the block of three buttons. I can't help feeling that the buttons' implementation was designed by someone who doesn't use this device for photo-editing themselves!

In use, the pressure sensitive pen works extremely well - as you would expect from the premier graphics tablet manufacturer. The stand is tall enough and weighted enough so that you can position the monitor for you to comfortably work standing up, or with it hanging over the edge of the desk like a drawing board almost on your knees, and at a wide range of positions in between. I found the ergonomics of working standing up were perfect for me, and that's how I tend to use it. A Mac wireless key board sits perfectly on the top edge without obscuring much screen estate (due to the broad bezel) if you want to have a keyboard in easy reach. Another minor niggle is that there is some parallax error due to the image being behind the clear surface layer of the screen. It only appears to be about 1mm thick, but at some angles, the pen tip is noticeably not at the exact point you are seeing its effect. But it is very slight - I wouldn't over emphasize that point.

So, does it work as advertised? Undoubtedly. Do I use it? All the time. Would I buy it again? Probably not - I think the money would be better spent on upgrading your monitor and maybe a large Intuos tablet. Or a new lens for your camera.